I went to Beatport Connect in LA a couple of weeks ago.

there were panels with artists, producers and people from different sides of the electronic music industry.

and one thing kept coming up.

stop chasing what everyone else is doing.

funny enough, I regularly preach exactly this to a lot of the artists I work with.

because it’s incredibly easy to do.

you hear a record blowing up.

a particular sound starts appearing everywhere.

and naturally, you think:

maybe I should be making more of that.

I’ve definitely been guilty of it myself.

when I first started leon taro, it took me almost two years before I actually released anything.

I was making plenty of music.

the problem was, a lot of it sounded like slightly different versions of the artists I was inspired by.

I’d hear something I loved and think:

I want to create something like that.

then another record would come along and pull me somewhere else.

eventually I realised I wasn’t really figuring out what leon taro sounded like.

I was figuring out how well I could imitate the things I already loved.

that’s not to say I’ve released music since that doesn’t share similarities with some of my idols.

of course it does.

we’re all influenced by something.

but the further I get into my own artist career, the less I care about what everyone else is doing when I’m actually creating.

I love listening to other artists as a fan.

I love discovering new music.

I just don’t want one particular song or artist sitting too heavily on my shoulder when I’m trying to make something of my own.

there’s nothing wrong with paying attention.

but there’s a difference between being influenced by something and allowing it to tell you what you’re supposed to make.

the problem with chasing trends is this:

creating takes time.

you hear a trend today.

then spend days, weeks, or months creating something.

and eventually release it into the world.

by then, the people who started the trend are probably already somewhere else.

the artists who create movements usually aren’t sitting around asking what everyone else is doing.

they’re following their own taste.

and everyone else catches up later.

nobody else has your exact combination of influences, experiences, taste and ideas.

that’s the bit worth protecting.

so learn from what’s happening around you.

just don’t let it tell you who you’re supposed to be.

because the thing that makes your work interesting probably isn’t how well you followed the trend.

it’s the part nobody else could have made.